Cognitive Dissonance Exam 10/29

Andrew Wakefield

published an article about how the measles vaccine leads to the development of autism that was later retracted

Cognitive Dissonance

unpleasant arousal occurring when two cognitions, or a cognition and a behavior are in conflict (people are motivated to reduce it, and the more important the cognition/behavior, the more motivated they are to reduce it)

How can we reduce/remove dissonance?

Changing behavior, changing cognition, or adding consonant cognition

Changing behavior

Modifying actions in the future to align with cognition

Changing cognition

Maintaining the behavior and changing the cognition that is inconsistent with it

Adding consonant cognition

adding a rationalizing factor to explain the inconsistent attitude

When is dissonance higher?

when the cognitions involved are more important to self-concept (since there’s more dissonance, there’s a greater motivation to remove it

Post-Decision Dissonance

dissonance that arises after making a considered decision involving beliefs about competency and the negatives about the chosen option/positives about the rejected option

Permanence

irrevocable decisions present strong motivation to reduce dissonance becaue it rules out changes of behavior as a method (we have to accept the behavior, so we find a way to be happy about it)

Illusory Irrevocability

getting the effects of permanence on dissonance reduction without the behavior really being permanent

Low-balling

after committing to a behavior, the cost can be raised to a point that would not have been initially agreed to, without the actor withdrawing and therefore exploiting dissonance

Cialdini et al. (1978)

Conducted a study on low-balling: Ps were either told an action normally or low-balled (24% of control showed up, 53% of low-balled showed up)

Justification of Effort

increased liking for something one has worked hard to attain

External Justification

behaviors are the result of external factors; adding a consonant cognition that aligns logically and consistently

Internal Justification

Changing behavior or attitude to reduce dissonance

Counterattitudinal Advocacy

If we endorse/argue for something we don’t believe, we may come to believe it (saying is believing)

Festinger and Carlsmith (1959)

conducted an experiment testing cognitive dissonance theory by having people perform a boring/tedious task and then lie to a subsequent participant, with varying levels of payment to see how it affected their attitudes towards the task (those given $1 said they enjoyed it more than those given $20)

Insufficient Punishment Effect

valuation of a desired object/activity decreases if there is no good external justification for resisting it (a mild external threat is enough to stop an unwanted behavior, but not strong enough to serve as a full justification for obeying; to reduce the resulting cognitive dissonance, people convince themselves they actually dislike the forbidden activity/object)

Self-esteem

people’s evaluations of their own self-worth; the extent to which they view themselves as good, competent, and decent (one of the most powerful determinants of human behavior)

The Ben Franklin Effect

a person will like you more after they do you a favor, rather than after you do them a favor (justification of kindness)

How do we justify cruelty?

By dehumanizing the enemy

What is the difference between strong and weak rewards/punishments

Strong rewards/punishments prevent real attitude chance but are effective for compliance, while weaker ones are less effective for compliance but promote genuine attitude change

Hypocrisy Induction

the arousal of dissonance by having individuals make statements that run counter their behaviors and reminding them of the inconsistency between what they advocated and their behavior (leads individuals to more responsible behavior)

Self-Affirmation Theory

the idea that people can reduce threats to their self-esteem by affirming themselves in areas unrelated to the source of the threat

Self-Evaluation Maintenance Theory

the idea that people experience dissonance when someone close to us outperforms us in an area that is central to our self esteem (reduced by becoming less close to the person, changing out behavior so we outperform them, or deciding that the area is not that important after all)

Narcissism

excessive self-love and lack of empathy toward others

Private Acceptance

conforming to other people’s behavior out of a genuine belief that what they are doing or saying is right

Public Compliance

Conforming to other people’s behavior publicly without necessarily believing in what the other people are doing or saying

Social Norms

The implicit or explicit rules a group has for the acceptable behaviors, values, and beliefs or its members

Idiosyncrasy Credits

the tolerance a person earns over time by conforming to group norms; if enough credit is earned, the person can, on occasion, deviate from the group without retribution

Minority Influence

the case where a minority of group members influences the behavior or beliefs of the majority

Injunctive Norms

People’s perceptions of what behaviors are approved or disapproved of by others

Descriptive Norms

People’s perceptions of how people actually behave in given situation, regardless of whether the behavior is approved or disapproved of by others

Boomerang Effect

A phenomenon where an attempt to persuade someone causes them to adopt the exact opposite position or behavior of what was intended

Propaganda

A deliberate, systematic attempt to advance a cause by manipulating mass attitudes and behaviors, often through misleading or emotionally charged information

Obedience

A change in one’s behavior due to the direct influence of an authority figure

Conformity

any change in behavior as a result of implicit social influence, real or imagined

Informational Social Influence

Relying on others for accurate knowledge and cues to appropriate behavior

Sherif (1936) & Autokinetic Effect

Apparent movements of bright light on dark background; due to lack of fixed referent the participant’s perception shifts in response to others’ estimates of movement

When does Information Influence happen?

Ambiguous situation, crisis situation, or others are experts

Normative Influence

Conforming in order to be liked and/or accepted by others

Asch (1956)

A study demonstrating the extent to which social pressure from a majority group could affect a person to conform, even when the group opinion is wrong

When does normative influence happen?

Larger group, important group, no allies in the group, or collectivist group

Compliance

Changing behavior as a result of a direct request

Reciprocity

If someone does something for you, it creates an expectation that you will repay those actions in kind (lasts a short period of time, governed slightly by circumstance for how much can be reciprocated

Terror Management Theory

A social and evolutionary psychology framework stating that human behavior is deeply driven by a conflict between biological desire to stay alive and the dark awareness of inevitable death (we avoid this dread by finding ways to make the terror more palatable)

Social Impact Theory

Explains how individuals are influenced by the real, implied, or imagined presence of other people (Strength, Immediacy, and Number)

Foot-in-the-door

If unlikely to get agreement with a request, you can create a smaller related request, gain compliance, and then make your larger request

Door-in-the-face

If unlikely to get an agreement with a request, you can devise a much larger request, have your larger request denied, and then “negotiate down” to your real request

The Agentic State

A state in which an individual places responsibility for actions on an authority figure

Stanley Milgrim (1933-1984)

Did an experiment on obedience using a “teacher” and a “learner” and electric shocks to punish the learner if they got it wrong